Dortmund falls to Hamburg

Borussia Dortmund fell further off the Bundesliga pace on Saturday after suffering a 4-1 home defeat to Hamburg at Signal Iduna Park.

The defending champions had been riding a four-game winning streak in league play, but were unable to contain Hamburg’s Artjoms Rudnevs and Heung-Min Son, who each scored a pair of goals for the visitors.

The loss is just Dortmund’s fourth of the campaign, but they are well behind league leaders Bayern Munich, who easily handled Schalke by a 4-0 count on Saturday.

As for Hamburg, the Rothosen have won two of their last three Bundesliga matches to move up to fifth place on 31 points.

Robert Lewandowski got Dortmund off to a good start in the 17th minute when he ran onto a pass from Mats Hummels and slipped it past Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler to the near post for the early lead.

But Hamburg equalized just one minute later through Rudnevs, who powered it home from inside the penalty area following a cross from Dennis Aogo.

Hamburg went in front in the 26th minute through Son when he picked up a pass from Jeffrey Bruma and fired a right-footed strike into the net for the lead.

Five minutes later, things got worse for Dortmund as Lewandowski was sent off, but Bruma was also shown a red card after the break as both sides were down to 10 men.

Rudnevs got his second of the contest 12 minutes after the break with a powerful header off a free kick by Rafael van der Vaart, and Son iced it for Hamburg one minute from time with an easy shot into the bottom-right corner.

Bayern Munich 4, Schalke 0

Munich, Germany – David Alaba scored twice inside of the hour mark as Bayern Munich rolled to a 4-0 win over Schalke on Saturday at the Allianz Arena.

The Champions League runners-up increased their lead in the German top flight to a comfortable 15 points over second-place Dortmund, while the loss for Schalke sends the club down to ninth place with 29 points from 21 matches.

Alaba got things rolling for Bayern in the 19th minute when he converted a spot kick and Bastian Schweinsteiger made it two for the hosts in the 32nd minute.

Alaba got his second of the match six minutes after the break and Mario Gomez finished it for Bayern in the 63rd minute when he got a nice pass from Arjen Robben and slotted it past a helpless Timo Hildebrand in the Schalke net.

Monchengladbach 3, Bayer Leverkusen 3

Monchengladbach, Germany – Patrick Herrmann’s tally four minutes from time salvaged a point for Monchengladbach in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday at Borussia Park.

Monchengladbach struck first one minute before halftime as Martin Stranzl got on the end of a cross from Havard Nordtveit and powered a header into the net for the 1-0 advantage.

The visitors equalized in the 52nd minute when Sidney Sam fired a left-footed strike into the top left corner from outside the box, but Monchengladbach grabbed the advantage right back in the 58th minute through a header from Luuk de Jong.

Just one minute later however, the teams were back on level terms as Stefan Kiessling tapped one in from close range. Leverkusen then took its first lead of the contest in the 64th minute through Andre Schurrle, who ran onto a through pass from Gonzalo Castro and easily slotted it home.

Herrmann came to the rescue for his side four minutes from time when he popped one into the roof of the net from in close. The result keeps Monchengladbach in a Europa League qualifying spot with 30 points, while Leverkusen remains in third place on 38 points.

Eintracht 0, Nurnberg 0

Frankfurt, Germany – Eintracht remains firmly entrenched in fourth place after a 0-0 draw with Nurnberg on Saturday at the Commerzbank Arena.

Eintracht controlled play for the duration of the contest with 61 percent of possession, while firing nine shots toward the Nurnberg net. Nurnberg was more accurate with its chances, putting six shots on target, but ultimately, neither side could find a breakthrough.

Nurnberg will take the point, moving further away from the drop zone with 25 points from 21 matches.

Hannover 1, Hoffenheim 0

Hannover, Germany – Mame Biram Diouf netted the only goal of the match as Hannover earned a 1-0 victory over Hoffenheim on Saturday at the AWD Arena.

Diouf found the back of the net for his side just eight minutes into the match when he got on the end of a cross from Szabolcs Huszt and nodded it past Hoffenheim goalkeeper Gomes.

Hoffenheim fired 16 shots, nine on goal, but could not break down Hannover’s defense. The result sees the home side rise to eighth place on 29 points, while Hoffenheim remains in the bottom three with 16 points.

Wolfsburg 1, Greuther Furth 0

Furth, Germany – Wolfsburg put an end to a two-game winless run in league play with a 1-0 win over Greuther Furth on Saturday at the Volkswagen Arena.

Bas Dost netted the only tally of the match in the 23rd minute when he collected a cross in the penalty area from Vieirinha and fired it home from in close to give all three points to Wolfsburg, which moves into 12th place on 26 points.

Furth, meanwhile, failed to build on an impressive win over Schalke last week and remains at the foot of the table on 12 points.

Ekici opened the scoring for Bremen in the 34th minute with a well-placed shot into the bottom left corner of the net, but Stuttgart was able to equalize in the 50th minute though Ibrahima Traore, who slotted a left-footed strike just inside the far post.

Bremen took over from there though, as goals from Aaron Hunt and Ekici 13 minutes apart gave the visitors a two-goal advantage before Kevin De Bruyne secured it with a goal in stoppage time.

With the victory, Bremen sits in 11th place on 28 points, while Stuttgart is in 14th with 25 points.

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